Are you relatively new to working with LLMs and generative AI? Do you often find that you need to do the same task repeatedly?
Well, you’re in luck. There’s a quick way to make your life easier. No more continuous re-prompting to get what you want.
Let’s talk about creating custom GPTs for credit unions.
What Is a Custom GPT?
Custom GPTs are essentially a built-in prompt. When you open a new chat with a custom GPT, it automatically retrieves the instructions already built into it. It’s sort of like saving a long prompt right into ChatGPT itself.
The biggest benefit isn’t that you don’t have to re-paste in the prompt. No, the best part is that you can include entire documents as context. For example, if you want a custom GPT to craft a job description, you can provide a document with one (or several) of your recent job descriptions into the custom GPT. The output will always resemble exactly what you put in.
How Do I Make a Custom GPT?
The process of creating your own GPT is very simple. You’ll be able to do it in 5 minutes or less.
- When you open ChatGPT, click your profile icon or look for My GPTs in the left sidebar.
- In the upper right corner, select Create GPT.
- A new section will open on the left side where you can fill out custom GPT instructions.
You can fill in as much or as little information as you want in that custom GPT instruction section. One thing to note is that, at least historically, there’s a practical limit to how many words ChatGPT can handle in the instructions. Going beyond that reduces the accuracy of the prompt.
Be careful not to make the instructions too long or complicated. Also try to make sure the GPT is tasked with only one thing. If you need to accomplish multiple tasks, that’s best done by multiple GPTs.
Give the GPT a name, add in any context documents you want it to reference, and give it a spin.
Note: context documents could be anything from desired output examples to a strict set of rules/regulations to follow for the task.
Hot Tips for Better Custom GPTs
If you’re not sure where to start, you can begin by asking ChatGPT. Tell if you want to make a custom GPT to do… whatever it is you want it to do. Then, ask it to create a brief prompt to put in the prompt/context window.
Prompts can get “overbaked.” If your instructions are too exacting or very complex/wordy, it may actually reduce the quality of the final output. Aim for brevity when you can—a tall order if ChatGPT is crafting the prompt for you!
Keep it focused. Don’t ask one custom GPT to do too much. Think of it as a way to solve one problem effectively, efficiently, and repeatedly. If your workflow requires multiple steps, you may be better served by multiple GPTs.
Potential GPTs You Might Create
You’re limited only by need and imagination. Here are a few custom GPTs we’ve helped create with and for credit unions recently:
- Job posting
- President’s report to the board
- FP&A report
- Minute-taking for NCUA files
We’ll spare you the longer list. The takeaway is that anything you could use ChatGPT for more than one time would be better served by a custom GPT.
Want to Dig Deeper?
CU 2.0 works with credit union executive teams at institutions of all sizes to accelerate AI adoption. It doesn’t matter if you’ve barely touched ChatGPT or Copilot—we can help.
We’ll guide you through every step of mastery, starting from wherever you are now. Whether that means custom GPT creating or using Claude Code and n8n to automate entire workflows in a custom dashboard, we’re ready if you are.
Book your first free call here: https://cu-2.com/ai-coaching-for-credit-unions/
